CES Upcoming Events

2013 CES Fall Speaker Series

Each Friday in the fall, the Center for European Studies is pleased to bring you the Friday Speaker Series, which features scholars working on European politics and practitioners of EU policy. This fall’s series focuses on three themes: contestation in Europe, addressing topics such as immigration, the radical right, public opinion, and European elections; issues of European security and defense; and European social policy in times of austerity.

September events include:

Lecture with Prof. Cas Mudde, University of Georgia: “Weimar Europe? The Economic Crisis and the Far Right Threat”

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

Cas Mudde is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s International Affairs department. Born in the Netherlands, Professor Mudde received his MA and PhD from Leiden University. Prior to taking his position in Georgia, he taught at several institutions, including the Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), the University of Edinburgh (UK), and the University of Antwerp (Belgium).

Professor Mudde’s research examines extremism and democracy within Eastern and Western Europe as well as in North and South America and Israel. Current research projects include: a cross-national and cross-regional study of populism and democracy, an investigation of Islamophobia in contemporary western politics, and a long-term project on challengers to liberal democracy which tries to answer the crucial question: How can liberal democracies defend themselves against extremist challenges without undermining their own core values?

Considered one of the foremost experts on populism and the extreme right, Professor Mudde is the author of numerous books and articles on the subject including: “Three Decades of Populist Radical Right Parties in Western Europe: So What?,” European Journal of Political Research (2013); Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2007); and The Ideology of the Extreme Right (Manchester University Press, 2000).

Seth Jolly has been an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University since 2008 and is a co-investigator on the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES). He received his PhD in Political Science from Duke University in 2006. His dissertation, titled "A Europe of Regions? Regional Integration, Sub-National Mobilization and the Optimal Size of States," won the 2007 European Union Studies Association (EUSA) Best Dissertation Prize. This work is now an ongoing book project that examines European integration and increased sub-national mobilization within European Union member states. At Syracuse, Professor Jolly teaches European politics, comparative political parties, and ethnic conflict. His research focuses on regionalist political parties in Europe, political institutions and political economy.

Prof. Jae-Jae Spoon, University of North Texas: “Checking In or Checking Out? Parties, Issues, and Campaigns in European Elections”

The 19th century was a century of movement. Trains sped passengers across previously unimaginable distances, radically transforming our conceptions of time and distance. Steamboats chugged up rivers and across oceans, provided her etofore unimagined possibilities for travel, trade, and migration. Within cities, trams and subways redefined the urban experience and the urban landscape. Bicycles and automobiles opened another chapter in the history of man and machine united in motion. Yet scholars have often overlooked a simple fact: people continued to walk. Indeed, this most basic of human functions arguably took on an increasing number of forms and meanings as the nineteenth century progressed. Join us for a conference exploring the various practices of walking that persisted and emerged around the world in the course of the 19th and early 20th century. What do walks and walking reveal about some of the major themes in 19th-century global history such as urbanization, industrialization, commodification, and imperialism? In short, how does our perspective on the 19th century change if we ask how people put one foot in front of the other, and for what purpose?

The conference is organized by UNC-Chapel Hill, in collaboration with King’s College, London. Co-sponsors include: UNC-King’s College, London collaboration fund; the History Department; the Center for European Studies; the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies; the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies.

Ambassadors Forum

The Ambassadors Forum brings international leaders to UNC-Chapel Hill to deliver public lectures and participate in short graduate student workshops. Students have the opportunity to hear first-hand the practical application of their interest in and study of political science, European studies, and international relations. The forum is a collaboration between the Center for European Studies and the Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill and is organized by Professor Klaus Larres, the Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor of History & International Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Former US Ambassador to Egypt to speak on US, Europe and crises in the Middle East

Frank Wisner, former US ambassador to Egypt, will deliver remarks themed “The US, Europe and the Crises in the Middle East.” Following his talk, Ambassador Wisner will participate in a roundtable discussion that will include Ambassador David Litt, former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and Klaus Larres, Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor of History at UNC.

Ambassador Wisner’s diplomatic career spans four decades. He served as ambassador to Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines and India during his extensive career in the State Department. In addition to his role as ambassador, he has served as undersecretary of defense for policy, undersecretary of state for international security affairs and senior deputy assistant secretary for African affairs. As director of the Office of Southern African Affairs, he worked closely with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to launch negotiations with Zimbabwe and Namibia. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Ambassador Wisner as the US special representative to the Kosovo Status Talks in 2005 where he played a crucial role in negotiating Kosovo’s independence, and he was sent to Egypt by President Barack Obama in 2011 to negotiate a resolution to the protests against the government.

Lecture with J. Franklin Williamson: “Myth, Memory and War Experience: German Public Mourning after Defeat, 1918 and 1945”

James Franklin Williamson, a PhD Candidate in European History at UNC-Chapel Hill, will be speaking in conjunction with the North Carolina German Studies Seminar and Workshop Series. In the wake of both world wars, Germans faced the task of mourning enormous losses while also reordering their defeated societies and discredited governments. Scholars have long noted the relationship between these two periods of collective memorialization and the Third Reich that separated them. Yet while many historians credit a “myth of the war experience” for Weimar Germans’ eventual enthusiasm toward the Nazis, few accounts also explain West Germans’ efforts to enact memorial traditions after 1945 that were inspired by these problematic earlier precedents. The lecture will survey public mourning ceremonies in each context, arguing that beneath similarities in appearance, Germans’ discussions of war and the wartime dead were characterized by important changes over time.

Co-sponsors include: UNC-Chapel Hill: Carolina Seminars, Institute for the Arts & Humanities, Center for European Studies, Departments of History and German Languages & Literatures | Duke University: Departments of History and German Languages & Literatures, Center for European Studies | Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies

Lecture with Prof. Erika Kuhlman: “Transnational Cultures of Mourning: War Widows and Fallen Soldiers in World War I”

Erika Kuhlman, professor of history and director of women studies at Idaho State University, will be speaking in conjunction with the Duke-UNC “Gender, War and Culture” lecture series. The theme of Prof. Kuhlman’s lecture is how nation-states laid claims on the bodies of soldiers and their wives during World War I. She analyzes the experiences of war widows and their husbands comparatively to untangle the complex relationships between these two core wartime-figures and the nation-state. War widows could imagine the horrors of trench warfare as well as the sorrow of widows from other warring nations. As a result they participated not only in gendered mourning rituals endorsed by the state, but also created transnational cultures of mourning that challenged the nation-state's right to the bodies of their husbands, to their own bodies, and the right to wage war in general.

Prof. Kuhlman’s research focuses on comparative and transnational histories of World War I. Her books include Reconstructing Patriarchy after the Great War: Women, Gender, and Postwar Reconciliation between Nations (2008) and Of Little Comfort: War Widows, Fallen Soldiers, and the Remaking of the Nation after the Great War (2012).

Co-conveners include: UNC-Chapel Hill: Center for European Studies; Departments of History, Women's and Gender Studies, and Music; Institute for Arts and Humanities | Duke University: Department of History | Research Triangle Series on the History of Military, War and Society | Triangle Institute for Security Studies

Conversations on Europe: A Virtual Roundtable Series

The "Conversations on Europe" speaker series features some of the country's top experts on the European Union. The series links presenters and participants via videoconferencing across several sites. This event is open to the public and audiences at all sites are able to ask questions of the experts. The series is hosted by the European Union Center of Excellence/European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Join us for the first event of the fall semester.

Calls for Applications

EU Delegation Launches Grant Competition on Transatlantic Research and Debates

The Delegation of the European Union to the United States has published a call for grant proposals to support activities that advance transatlantic cooperation through policy research and debate on issues relevant to EU-US relations.

The Delegation invites think tanks, public policy research centers, chambers of commerce, civil society and stakeholder organizations, media institutions and other non-profit and non-governmental organizations based in the United States to submit proposals. Grant activities can focus on a number of different topics, in particular, strengthening economic policy dialogue to enhance jobs and growth, financial stability and the deepening of the transatlantic economy via the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, strengthening the political dialogue on foreign policy, pursuing common approaches to issues of common concern (energy security, sustainable energy transition, climate change and its security aspects, sustainable transportation, green economy, global health and education).

The European Union is allocating 2.4 million euros to this program and expects to award around 15 grants. Activities under the grant have to take place between January 2014 and December 2015. Application materials are available on the Delegation's website.

Application Deadline: September 12, 2013

DAAD Emigré Memorial German Internship Program EMGIP–Bundestag 2014

EMGIP-Bundestag offers internship opportunities for US and Canadian students in the German parliament, the Bundestag. The internships are 2 months long in positions matching the student’s interest and experience. Interns will be placed within the Verwaltung, preferably with a Sekretariat working for their preferred Ausschuss. Asides from contributing to the respective offices, interns have the opportunity to study legislative and administrative procedures in the German parliament.

Applicants for EMGIP-Bundestag should possess outstanding academic records and personal integrity as well as some knowledge of the German legislative process. Participants should be advanced undergraduates or graduate students in fields such as political science, international relations, law, history, economics or German. US and Canadian citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. International students who are enrolled in a full time course of study in the US or Canada may also apply. PhD students and German nationals are not eligible. Students must be able to fully communicate in German as their working language during the internship will be German. The skill level should be Intermediate German and above (oral and written) plus the appropriate professional vocabulary. Applicants must submit the DAAD language certificate. Finalists will be interviewed in German.

Application forms and up-to-date information about the application process for the EMGIP-Bundestag internships as well as detailed guidelines are available online.

Application Deadline: September 15, 2013 (postmark)

Conferences and Workshops

7th Annual Conference on Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum

September 19-20, 2013 | University of Richmond | Richmond, Virginia

The Seventh Annual Conference on Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) will focus on how to grow and sustain CLAC programs. In this time of diminished budgets and the need for assessment of learning outcomes, attendees at the conference will learn and be able to explain options for different models of CLAC programs and how CLAC programs can enhance other programs on campus. Seasoned CLAC practitioners, those in the process of implementing programs, as well as prospective program developers, will come together to share ideas and best practices in our evolving and unique field of education for global citizens. Visit the CLAC conference website for more information and to register.

Introduction to LAC Pedagogy Workshop

Participants in this workshop will become familiar with the philosophy, objectives, and characteristics of Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum; learn about UNC-Chapel Hill's LAC program and see examples of syllabi and materials from past courses; consider effective instructional strategies for the language-based content classroom; and design a brief LAC lesson plan, in collaboration with fellow participants. Email to attend.

5th European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Graduate Student Conference

The ECPR Graduate Student Conference is specifically tailored to the needs of graduate students looking to gain valuable political science conference experience, network, and further their personal and academic development in political and social sciences. Ideally suited to 'first-time' delegates, the conference combines a comprehensive academic and social program over three days. The Graduate Student Conference is open only to graduate students who are studying for a Master's degree, a PhD, or who hold junior postdoctoral positions.

The academic program consists of lectures, roundtables and themed sections and panels covering all the main areas of political science, political theory, international relations and European studies.

Gain first-hand experience of a political science conference by proposing a section at the Graduate Student Conference now. Only graduate students from full ECPR member institutions are invited to organize a section. All proposals to organize sections should be submitted online via MyECPR by Sept. 27, 2013.

Section proposers should read the guidelines document for full details of the conference. To propose a section, click here. If you have any further questions please contact Anna Foley.

Section Proposal Deadline: September 27, 2013

Council for European Studies (CES) 21st International Conference of Europeanists “Resurrections”

March 14-16, 2014 | Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC

In the wake of crisis in Europe, bits and pieces of the past are being resurrected as a means of understanding the present and imagining the future. Historical figures are re-evaluated and held out as models, once-dismissed ideologies reappear as possibilities or as bogeymen, myths and symbols from the past crop up in new productions, and old political and economic institutions are revived as alternatives for action. But resurrections are not simply about nostalgia, and they aren’t just a restoration of the past in unchanged form. Resurrections necessitate fundamental transformations: inserting old things into new contexts, changing their natures, and assigning them new meanings and values. For the 21st International Conference of Europeanists, we welcome papers that relate to the theme of “resurrections.” What elements of Europe’s past, and present, are amenable to reanimation? How do they work in contemporary debate, and how is their relevance to the present disputed? What is the process through which they are revived and how are they changed as they are brought back to life or combined with new elements?

For the 2014 conference, the Council for European Studies (CES) welcomes proposals for panels, roundtables, book discussions and individual papers on the study of Europe broadly defined. We encourage proposals in the widest range of disciplines; in particular, we welcome panels that combine disciplines, nationalities, and generations. Proposals may be submitted from August 15 to October 1, 2013. Please consult conference website for more information.

Information on how to submit will be posted on the Council's website and disseminated through its newsletter. Subscribe to the CES newsletter.

Proposal Deadline: October 1, 2013

Events for K-12 Educators

Free Online Course on "The European Union: An Introduction for Teachers"

The goal of this course is to introduce in-service teachers to the history and the function of the EU, and to digital resources and methods for student learning. By the end of the course, teachers will understand the EU as an essential part of European history, government, economics, and culture, and will be able to facilitate learning about the EU through use of technology.

The final project is a standards-based technology-rich lesson plan incorporating online EU resources for each teacher’s class. Lesson plans will be submitted to the EUCE UNC for possible inclusion in the online lesson plan database. For more information, contact Dr. Regina Higgins.

Sponsored by the European Union, UNC European Union Center of Excellence, and LEARN NC.

The 2013 K-12 Global Education Symposium addresses a vital topic for all 21st century educators: Population and Global Migration. The symposium offers general and concurrent sessions examining the world’s most pressing challenges and resources for integrating global themes across the curriculum. There will also be support for school-based teams to create an Action Plan for adding a global dimension to school and district initiatives. This program is designed for K-12 administrators and teachers in all disciplines, and educators will leave the program with strategies for helping their students learn about and with the world. CEU credits will be offered.

Other International News

Lecture with Prof. Richard H. Kohn: "Six Myths about Civil-Military Relations in the United States"

Richard Kohn, professor emeritus at UNC-Chapel Hill, will be speaking in conjunction with the lecture series "The U.S. in World Affairs: the Cold War & Beyond." A specialist in American military history and civil-military relations, Prof. Kohn was the Chief of Air Force History for the USAF, 1981-1991. From 1992-2006 he chaired Carolina's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense (PWAD) and from 1992-2000, headed the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS). Prof. Kohn’s writing and teaching have focused on American war making, national security policy, and the connections between war, the military, and American society. In recent years his concentration has been on civilian control of the military.

Sponsored by the Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professorship at UNC-Chapel Hill, in co-operation with the UNC Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense (PWAD), the UNC Department of History, the UNC Center for European Studies, the College of Arts & Social Sciences, the UNC Arts & Humanities Center, UNC Global, and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS).

UNC Study Abroad Fair

The Study Abroad Fair has representatives from all over the world, study abroad staff, and past study abroad students to answer your questions about studying almost anywhere in the world! Come and see what opportunities await you!

In addition to the festivities in the Great Hall, the Study Abroad Office will be conducting two information sessions during the fair, including a presentation about funding a study abroad program.

11:00 to 12:00 - Student Union room 3411

1:00 to 2:00 - Student Union room 3408

Carolina Global Photography Competition

The submission period is now open for the 14th annual amateur Carolina Global Photography Competition hosted by the Center for Global Initiatives (CGI), the Study Abroad Office, and UNC Global. The competition is open to all students, faculty, alumni, and staff of UNC-Chapel Hill.

Lublin, Poland, image by Lara Szypszak, from 2012 contest

Photos may represent any world region and there is no restriction on the time period in which the photograph was taken. Entries will be judged on artistic merit and context. Special consideration will be given to images that are distinctive, defy expectations, embrace a new perspective, showcase the commonality of humanity, or illustrate potential solutions to global challenges.

This year, in addition to selecting first, second and third-place winners, the competition also offers a “Best Water” award to an image that embraces “Water in Our World,” UNC’s campus-wide academic theme. Entrants who submit water-related images are encouraged to think broadly about water issues, including connections to public policy, planning, sustainable development, environmental engineering, business, law, marine sciences, natural hazards and disasters, and global health. Photos can illustrate water issues, such as scarcity, without actually featuring bodies of water—think creatively!

Every individual that enters will have a photograph displayed in the FedEx Global Education Center beginning January 2014. CGI will consider submitted photos for publication in its annual calendar, and UNC Global and Study Abroad will use select images for publication in reports, web pages, brochures and other promotional materials.

This competition is an excellent opportunity to showcase Carolina’s diverse global activity, educational opportunities, research and service work. We look forward to your submissions!

This CES newsletter is sent via a moderated listserv by the Center for European Studies at UNC-CH, currently numbering more than 1,600 subscribers. To have your group's or institution's event and/or news items related to the study of contemporary Western Europe included in The Eurofile, simply send advanced notice to the Center at the following email: europe@unc.edu.

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The channel is the home to original resources for students and the greater public too. You will find lectures from our Fall Friday series and by our esteemed visiting scholars. Enjoy our growing library of topics on contemporary Europe!